By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — A County Clare-born widow has appealed to the taoiseach and the British prime minister to help free her daughter, who was sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban jail on a drug-related charge.
"She is innocent and had nothing to do with any drugs. It is an absolute nightmare," said mother of five Maureen McGee, 47, who was born in Kilrush.
Her daughter Rachel, 24, a secretary, was vacationing in Havana in November 1998 when she was arrested.
Her mother, who now lives in London, said a state-appointed lawyer defended Rachel. He told her to say nothing in the Havana court because there was no evidence that she had done anything wrong and that she would be freed.
"She received 15 years on some sort of a charge called ‘association,’ " McGee said. "Everything was in Spanish, so she didn’t understand what was happening. She is absolutely innocent. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The whole thing is unbelievable."
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McGee said a British human rights group called Fair Trials Abroad, which highlights miscarriages of justice abroad, has taken up the case and is contacting Bertie Ahern.
Clare TD Brendan Daly, who represents Kilrush, said he would also contact the Departments of the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs about the case.
"I would be deeply concerned if there has been a miscarriage of justice," he said.
McGee said her daughter was suffering terribly.
"She is not well at all and her weight is down to just six stone," she said. "Conditions are very bad in the jail. We have sent parcels out to her but they haven’t reached her. We can only talk to her by phone for 10 minutes every three or four months when someone from the British embassy goes in with a mobile phone. She can’t ring me otherwise and there is no Irish embassy.
"Nobody seems to have figured out why she was charged. It is just so terrible. She was arrested for inquiring about a holiday companion and hasn’t seen daylight since."
According to Rachel’s brother David, the woman had planned to go to the U.S. when friends told her someone had dropped out of a Cuban holiday and she could go for just £200.
She was in a taxi in Havana when it drove past a row involving one of her companions.
"There was a big melee involving one of the people who flew out from London with her and she stopped to find out what was happening. The Cubans said, ‘Who are you?’ and then arrested her as well," David McGee said.
"We wanted to get a lawyer for her and were told we had to raise $1,500. When we raised the money, the price doubled to $3,000. We are only working-class family and can’t go down that sort of road, so we took the advice to have her represented by a state-appointed lawyer."